James Naismith (chemist)
{{Short description|British structural biologist}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = James Naismith
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100%|country=GBR|FRS|FRSE|FMedSci|MAE|FRSC|FInstP|FRSB}}
| image = Professor_James_Naismith_FMedSci_FRS.jpg
| alt =
| caption = James Naismith at the Royal Society admissions day in July 2014
| birth_name = James Henderson Naismith
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1968|07|26}}{{Who's Who | title=Naismith, Prof. James Henderson | id = U258346 | author=Anon|year = 2014 | doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U258346| edition = online edition via Oxford University Press}}
| birth_place = Bellshill, Scotland
| other_names = Jim Naismith
| citizenship = United Kingdom
| nationality = Scottish, British
| fields = {{plainlist|
| workplaces = {{Plainlist|
- University of Oxford
- Rosalind Franklin Institute
- University of St Andrews
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center}}
| patrons =
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
- University of Edinburgh (BSc)
- University of Manchester (PhD)
- University of St Andrews (DSc)}}
| thesis_title = Structural studies of concanavalin A and zinc aldolase
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1055985285
| thesis_year = 1992
| doctoral_advisor = {{Plainlist|
- Bill Hunter{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
- John R. Helliwell{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}
- David Garner{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}}}
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Structural biology
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = {{Plainlist|
- Tilden Prize (2019)
- Fellow AAAS (2016)
- EMBO Member (2010)
- Colworth Medal (2004)
- Corday Morgan Medal (2004)}}
| website = {{Official URL}}
| footnotes =
| children = 2
}}
James Henderson Naismith (born 26 July 1968) is a Scot, Professor of Structural Biology{{Cite web|url=https://bbsrc.ukri.org/research/grants/grants/PersonDetails.aspx?PersonId=48906|title=Professor James Naismith|website=Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council|access-date=2019-01-25}} and since autumn of 2023{{Cite web |date=2023-05-02 |title=James Naismith appointed as Head of MPLS {{!}} University of Oxford |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-05-02-james-naismith-appointed-head-mpls |access-date=2023-06-01 |website=www.ox.ac.uk |language=en}} the Head of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Science Division (MPLS) Division at the University of Oxford. He was the inaugural Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute{{Cite web |title=EPSRC announces interim leadership team for Rosalind Franklin Institute – EPSRC website |url=https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news/rosalindfranklininstituteleadership/ |access-date=2017-08-10 |website=epsrc.ac.uk |language=en}} and Director of the Research Complex at Harwell.{{Cite web|url=http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/News/LatestNews/2017/23-06-17.html|title=Diamond welcomes new Director of the Research Complex at Harwell – Diamond Light Source|last=Source|first=Diamond Light|website=diamond.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-08-10}} He previously served as Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of St Andrews.{{Scopus id}}{{Google scholar id}}{{EuropePMC}}{{cite journal|last1=Tatham|first1=Michael H.|last2=Jaffray|first2=Ellis|last3=Vaughan|first3=Owen A.|last4=Desterro|first4=Joana M. P.|last5=Botting|first5=Catherine H.|last6=Naismith|first6=James H.|last7=Hay|first7=Ronald T.|title=Polymeric Chains of SUMO-2 and SUMO-3 Are Conjugated to Protein Substrates by SAE1/SAE2 and Ubc9|journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry|volume=276|issue=38|year=2001|pages=35368–35374|issn=0021-9258|doi=10.1074/jbc.M104214200|pmid= 11451954|doi-access=free}} He was a member of Council of the Royal Society (2021-2022).{{Cite web |title=Committees, Working Groups, and Councils {{!}} Royal Society {{!}} Royal Society |url=https://royalsociety.org/sitecore/content/royal-society/configuration/Components/Api2/CommitteeDetailPage/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=royalsociety.org}} He is also currently the Vice-Chair of Council of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser{{Cite web |title=XFEL: Federico Boscherini new chair of European XFEL Council |url=https://www.xfel.eu/news_and_events/news/index_eng.html?openDirectAnchor=1968&two_columns=0 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=www.xfel.eu}} and Vice-President (non-clinical){{Cite web |title=New Vice President (Non-Clinical) announced by Academy |url=https://acmedsci.ac.uk/more/news/new-vice-president-non-clinical-announced-by-academy |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=acmedsci.ac.uk}} of The Academy of Medical Sciences.
Education
Naismith was named after James VI and I. He was educated at Hamilton Grammar School. He went on to study at the University of Edinburgh where he received a first class Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1989. He won a Carnegie Scholarship to work under the supervision of Bill Hunter, John R. Helliwell and David Garner{{cite web|url=http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/Company/Board/Professor-Jim-Naismith.html|title=Professor Jim Naismith biography |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090429/http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Home/Company/Board/Professor-Jim-Naismith.html |archive-date=19 August 2014 |publisher=Diamond Light Source}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mib.ac.uk/about/governance/scientificadvisoryboard/|title=Jim Naismith, Scientific Advisory Board|publisher=Manchester Institute of Biotechnology|access-date=15 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819091340/http://www.mib.ac.uk/about/governance/scientificadvisoryboard/|archive-date=19 August 2014|url-status=dead}} at the University of Manchester where he received his PhD in 1992{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Jim|last=Naismith |title=Structural studies of Concanavalin A and zinc aldolase |publisher=University of Manchester |year=1992 |url=https://www.librarysearch.manchester.ac.uk/permalink/44MAN_INST/bofker/alma992976153650801631|oclc=1055985285|author-link=Jim Naismith|website=manchester.ac.uk}} {{subscription required}} for research into the chemical structure of Concanavalin A and Zinc aldolase. In 2016 he was awarded a Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of St Andrews.{{Cite thesis|last=Naismith|first=James H.|date= 2016|title=Structural and chemical studies upon proteins|url=http://library.st-andrews.ac.uk/record=b2411732~S5|publisher=University of St Andrews|degree =DSc|website=st-andrews.ac.uk}}
Career and research
Following his PhD, Naismith did postdoctoral research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a NATO Fellow in the laboratory of Stephen Sprang.{{Cite journal
| pmid = 8913924
| year = 1995
| last1 = Naismith
| first1 = J. H.
| title = Tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily
| journal = Journal of Inflammation
| volume = 47
| issue = 1–2
| pages = 1–7
| last2 = Sprang
| first2 = S. R.
}} He was appointed a lecturer at the University of St Andrews in 1995, Reader in 1999 and a Professor in 2001. Naismith's research investigates: {{centred pull quote|The application of protein structure determination by X-ray crystallography coupled to molecular biology and biochemistry to probe biological mechanisms and to target specific disease pathways. We have ongoing research in
- signal transduction
- physical basis of protein carbohydrate interactions
- pathogenic bacteria glycan assembly, we have cloned and crystallised a number of the enzymes involved in key steps of glycan synthesis in pathogenic bacteria.
- viral replication, we are purifying and crystallising a heterodimer crucial to replication of viruses in vivo,
- the biosynthesis of unusual natural products.[http://chemistry.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/jhn/group/ The Naismith Structural Biology Group: Changing the world, one structure at a time…], University of St Andrews}}
His research has been funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC),{{cite web|url=http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/person/31297C20-181F-473E-923F-6D20BB4ACF09|title=UK Government research grants awarded to James Henderson Naismith |publisher=Research Councils UK}} the Wellcome Trust and the European Union.{{cite web|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2014/title,242061,en.php |title=Major honour for St Andrews scientist Jim Naismith |date=1 May 2014 |publisher=University of St Andrews |archive-date=2014-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090330/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2014/title,242061,en.php |url-status=dead }}
Naismith joined the University of Oxford in 2017 as Professor of Structural Biology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine and Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College. He directed the Research Complex at Harwell between 2017 and 2019 and the Rosalind Franklin Institute from 2018.{{cite web |title=James Naismith appointed as Head of MPLS |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-05-02-james-naismith-appointed-head-mpls |website=University of Oxford |access-date=19 September 2024}}
=Awards and honours=
Naismith was awarded the 2000 Dextra Carbohydrate award{{Cite web |title=Carbohydrate Group Awards |url=https://www.rsc.org/membership-and-community/connect-with-others/through-interests/interest-groups/carbohydrate-group/awards/awards/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |language=en-GB}} and the 2009 Jeremy Knowles Prize{{Cite web |title=Chemistry Biology Interface Division mid-career award: Jeremy Knowles Award - previous winners |url=https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/find-a-prize/chemistry-biology-interface-division-mid-career-award-jeremy-knowles-award/previous-winners/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |language=en-GB}} in Chemical Biology both from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Naismith was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2014. His nomination reads: {{centred pull quote|Naismith is cited for his stunning structural and chemical dissection of the many proteins involved in natural product recognition, synthesis and export. His work has revealed new paradigms in the recognition of nucleic acids and carbohydrates, unveiled novel chemical mechanisms for enzymatic nucleophilic substitution and addition and provided the first views, both structural and dynamic, of polysaccharide export systems in bacteria. His work is characterised by a synthesis of three-dimensional structural understanding with profound chemical insight.{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/fellowship/2014/james-naismith/ |title=Professor James Naismith FMedSci FRS |publisher=royalsociety.org |archive-date=2014-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813083722/https://royalsociety.org/people/fellowship/2014/james-naismith/ |location=London |url-status=dead }}}}
Naismith was part of the team awarded a 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry Horizon Prize{{Cite web |title=Team Nanobodies - 2022 Chemistry Biology Interface Division Horizon Prize: Rita and John Cornforth Award winner |url=https://www.rsc.org/prizes-funding/prizes/2022-winners/team-nanobodies/ |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |language=en-GB}} for their work on nanobodies against Covid19. Naismith is also Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), the Academy of Medical Sciences, United Kingdom (FMedSci), an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), in 2016 was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS){{cite web|author=Ginger Pinholster |url=http://www.aaas.org/news/2016-aaas-fellows-honored-advancing-science-serve-society |title=2016 AAAS Fellows Honored for Advancing Science to Serve Society | AAAS – The World's Largest General Scientific Society |publisher=AAAS |date=29 November 2016 |access-date=2017-06-07}} and in 2022 elected a member of Academia Europaea (AE).{{Cite web |title=Academy of Europe: Naismith James |url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Naismith_James |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.ae-info.org}} His nomination for the Academy of Medical Sciences reads: {{centred pull quote|Jim Naismith is Professor of Chemical Biology at St Andrew's University. He recognised the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance and has devoted his scientific career to the development of new therapeutic compounds and the identification of novel targets specific to microbial pathogens. Highlights include solving the structure and mechanism of a bacterial fluorinating enzyme, determining the mechanism of tryptophan 7-halogenase and establishing the structure of an open Escherichia coli mechanosensitive channel. His contributions have been recognised by the Carbohydrate Chemistry Medal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Leverhulme Prize in Molecular Biology and the Colworth Medal of Biochemical Society.{{cite web|url=http://www.acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/professor-james-naismith/ |title=Professor James Naismith FRS FRSE FMedSci|publisher= Academy of Medical Sciences|website=acmedsci.ac.uk}}}}
Personal life
References
{{reflist}}
{{FRS 2014}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naismith, James Henderson}}
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society
Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews
Category:Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Category:Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh